Pitt and Syracuse will depart the Big East after this season for the ACC. Louisville and Notre Dame will follow but had not announced a timetable.

The Catholic 7 basketball schools—DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova—are in negotiations to depart the conference after the 2013-14 season, like Notre Dame.

"I feel strongly that the Catholic schools are going to be there with us (in 2013-14)," Brey said Thursday. "That's one of the reasons we decided to sit tight. It looked like the Catholic schools were not going to be able to formulate the league they're going to put together. Could they put it together in the next six weeks? Nothing would shock me."

Under current Big East bylaws, the schools must pay a $10 million exit fee if they withdraw from the conference before the end of a mandatory 27-month waiting period. If the schools wait out the 27-month period, they would owe the conference nothing.

The Big East has negotiated early exits by Syracuse, Pitt and West Virginia (Big 12), with the schools paying different amounts.